2005

David Gilmour has confirmed a two-week, five-city tour of North America this spring in support of his upcoming solo album, “On an Island.” Dates will get underway with an April 4-5 stand at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and run through April 19-20 at Los Angeles’ Kodak and Gibson Theatres, respectively.

“On an Island” will arrive March 6 via Columbia in the United Kingdom and a day later in North America. The former Pink Floyd vocalist/guitarist will begin roadwork March 10 in Dortmund, Germany, backed by a band whose members have yet to be announced.

Gilmour promises to blend new songs with Pink Floyd classics on the trek. “I’m rather hoping that with this tour announcement people will believe me when I say, honestly, this is the only band I plan to tour with!,” he says.

The artist will bring along lightning technician Marc Brickman, a longtime part of Pink Floyd’s live production. Pre-sale tickets for the North American shows begin tomorrow (Dec. 19) via Gilmour’s Web site and will go on sale to the general public the second weekend in January.

Here are David Gilmour’s North American tour dates:

April 4-5: New York (Radio City Music Hall)
April 9-10: Toronto (Massey Hall)
April 12-13: Chicago (Paramount Theatre)
April 16-17: Oakland, Calif. (Paramount Theatre)
April 19: Los Angeles (Kodak Theatre)
April 20: Los Angeles (Gibson Theatre)

Source billboard.com.

Although Rush released a new live DVD, “R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour,” just last month, the veteran Canadian rock trio is planning on reissuing several classic live performances in 2006. To the delight of long time fans, their well-worn VHS copies of “Exit…Stage Left,” “Grace Under Pressure Tour” and “A Show of Hands” will soon be replaced with DVD reissues.

“Everything’s been remixed to 5.1, and that was the intention — to keep it all intact, except for the remix,” guitarist Alex Lifeson tells Billboard.com. “So it’s available in surround.” It remains to be decided if the releases will be made available individually or packaged together. “I’m guessing a box set — that would make more sense,” Lifeson says.

Lifeson says he enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane while refurbishing the material. “It was interesting to see the development in the arrangements, and how our sound changed over the course of a decade,” he says. “I definitely found it fascinating, looking at that. And how the stage show changed over the years — of course, [in] 10 years a lot of stuff changes. But it was a little fascinating to watch that, actually.”

Asked if he was planning to follow-up his lone solo release, 1996’s “Victor,” the artists offers, “‘Victor’ was really, really rewarding for me, and I felt that I really needed to do something like that at the time. I don’t feel like that so much anymore. Not that I would discount it, it’s great to work with other people, it’s great to work on your own music — especially in my case, when I have a studio.”

“But at the same time, we’re thinking about starting a new [Rush] record in the next month,” he continues. “We’ve been celebrating the last 30 years, and it’s time to kind of move forward now. So, I’m really looking forward to a new Rush studio album. And then afterwards, we’ll see.”

Source billboard.com.

When you’re home this holiday season drinking Bailey’s with the family, now there’s one more Christmas disc to add to the seasonal shuffle.

As noted by The Slip’s brother duo of Brad and Andrew Barr, “Our family only really attended church services on christmas eve and as far as we were concerned that was more than enough. The only thing that made that little wool uniform less than unbearable was the sacred music that ensued outside around the manger. Over the years we have both developed a real soft spot for some of these melodies and last December we invited the elves over to help us track some yule tide favorites. These cuts were intended to be for the family only, but The Slip’s friend and co-manager Jon Bahr convinced us that there might be others out there who need some ammo to help pry their families from the illimitable amount of garish tinsel time muzak.

Enjoy with eggnog.
-Andrew and Brad

1.White Christmas
2.Silent Night
3.Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
4.Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
5.Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

all instruments played by The Barr Brothers

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The 16th Annual HIGH SIERRA MUSIC FESTIVAL will be held on Thursday, June 29 – Sunday, July 2, 2006 at the Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds, Quincy, CA.

Confirmed acts so far are:

Bela Fleck and The Flecktones
Nickel Creek
Umphrey’s McGee
Robert Walter’s Super Heavy Organ
Tea Leaf Green
ALO
Drew Emmitt Band [formerly of Leftover Salmon]
Lotus
New Mastersounds
Apollo Sunshine
Adrienne Young and Little Sadie
Shady Deal
Dubconscious
Chuch
Plus many, many more TBA

The High Sierra Music Festival is a unique four-day music and camping festival that features an eclectic and boldly creative span of music from acoustic singer-songwriters and down-home bluegrass to high-energy funk and skillfully improvised jazz, rock and live electronica.

Festival pass price includes a $1 donation to the High Sierra Foundation, which has established a special fund for direct aid to New Orleans musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

highsierramusic.com

After skipping over NYC on his recent fall tour, as promised, Phil Lesh and Friends will more than make up for lost time in the Big Apple. In addition to expected dates at the Beacon Theatre February 10-12 and 14-15, the band has also announced a run at the Hammerstein Ballroom February 17-19. The tour, entitled